N.S. will make universal mental health and addictions care available in the spring

Nova Scotia has rolled out the first phase of its 'universal access' for mental health and addictions care.

Nova Scotia will begin covering the costs of certain mental health and addictions care for patients seeking private services.

Brian Comer, the province’s minister of addictions and mental health, announced Nova Scotians with mood and anxiety disorders will have more access to care in the coming months.

“That means no matter where someone lives in the province and no matter what issue they are facing, they can get the mental health care and support they deserve for free as part of our publicly funded health-care system,” said Comer during a news conference Wednesday morning.

The government is looking for mental health and addictions professionals like psychologists, registered counselling therapists, and social workers, who can provide non-urgent care for eligible patients.

Come spring, registered psychologists and therapists who sign on with the province will provide non-urgent mental health care for youth and adults, similar to how the province pays doctors, dentists and pharmacists, said Comer.

“Seeing a mental health clinician anytime you need one shouldn’t be any different than seeing a doctor or a dentist or a pharmacist, but it has been different,” said Comer. “Paying private sector providers for public access health care is nothing new; we’ve been doing it in this province for decades.”

The province is also looking to contract an administrator who will handle the billing process and has already issued a request for proposals for that position.

Comer said this is Phase 1; the plan is to roll out the program in the spring, when patients can reach out for support through a provincial telephone intake line and be assessed.

The province is spending an additional $10 million to get the program rolling.

But NDP health critic and physician Rod Wilson says he’s disappointed in the fee-for-service model.

“It rewards quantity, not quality,” said Wilson. “I think a better model would build capacity within the current health system, support the mental health workers we have here and support the access to care within our current sites and build our capacity within.”

There is great demand for mental health services in Nova Scotia says Francine Vezina, the senior executive director with the provincial department of mental health and addictions.

Since April 2023, more than 27,000 Nova Scotians sought access for mental health and addictions care.

Vezina confirmed the province has a mandate to provide care for non-urgent mental health patients within 28 days, but in many cases, it isn’t meeting that goal.

“For children and youth, it’s about a 15-to-80-day wait across the province,” said Vezina. “And a 10-to-95-day wait for non-urgent adults.”

The province is looking to recruit 50 mental health and addictions professionals to partner with this year and add an additional 200 clinicians to its rank over the next two years.

Universal access to free mental health care was something Premier Tim Houston’s Progressive Conservative government promised back in 2021 when it was first elected.

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